TOOWOOMBA RACING UNDER PRESSURE

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Spare a thought for Toowoomba racing. By that I mean Toowoomba racing as a traditional, honourable racing community which plays a productive part in the business that is Queensland Racing.

The vote taken by Toowoomba Turf Club (TTC) members on Monday night in favour accepting the $10 million funding offer made to the club by Queensland Racing Ltd (QRL) – which includes the controversial issue of replacing the turf with a Cushion track – has decided an argument which had degenerated into an on-going, ugly mess which did the industry no favours.

For the last couple of months the Toowoomba racing community has been staggering around the ring like a punch-drunk boxer wondering from which direction the knockout punch would arrive.

After much public acrimony between those ‘for’ and ‘against’ the QRL proposal, it became clear that, in essence, no matter which side eventually won the vote, Toowoomba racing (read the TTC) was in a lose-lose situation.

Going into the vote, the TTC stood to lose the proposed funding package and be faced with a crippling financial burden, the demands of which were clearly laid out by QRL ... or, they would lose the patronage of those owners and trainers who, equally as unambiguously, had indicated that they were not only against the installation of the Cushion Track, but they would not support racing on that surface if it came into being.

The TTC members chose to accept the QRL offer. The count was 124 votes in favour, 110 votes against.

Those against the proposal needed 51% to carry the vote. They got 47%. It is a pity that the vote, whichever way it went, ended up being so close. All Monday night’s result means is that Toowoomba racing remains a fractured community and that is going to take more than an olive branch, already extended by the TTC to licensees, to heal.

The TTC are seemingly betting on the fact that those trainers and owners who voted against the deal might find it difficult to live up to their word ... that they might reconsider their options when faced with the reality of having to change locations or limit where they will place runners.

The TTC underestimated the resolve of this group once before when failing to recognise their passion and commitment to their cause. They could be doing so again.

It is entirely understandably why 124 members voted for the proposal. QRL had said they had made an offer, not a demand. But while there was a carrot, there was also a stick.

The financial consequences of refusing the deal, as highlighted in no uncertain terms in a letter sent to TTC members by QRL prior to the vote, dictated that the TTC would be placed in dire financial straits should the vote go against the deal. For some there might have appeared to be shades of Don Corleone. It might have looked like an offer they couldn’t refuse.

The details of the carrot and the stick are repeated here as a matter of record, as it does help to put the motivation for the final decision in perspective. Both extracts repeated below are taken from the letter which QRL sent to TTC members.

The positive vote for the $10 million package brings the following into play:
“Conversion of the course proper to an all weather synthetic surface, and associated cambering and realignment. Regenerating both dams and lining with the latest dam liner. Sealed service ambulance road. Sealed horse walkways. Upgrade of existing lights to international standards. Retention of the Saturday night racing programme. Allocation of a metropolitan status meeting for the Weetwood. Racing will be suspended from 11 February 2009 - 11 July 2009.”

On the other hand, should a negative vote have been cast the following would have applied:

“QRL will proceed to recoup the costs already expended on the project, including the removal of the cushion track stockpile. QRL will require the TTC to upgrade the course proper to a suitable standard, at the Clubs expense. QRL will not allow racing at Toowoomba on a sub-standard track, including feature races.QRL will require TTC to upgrade the lights to an acceptable standard, estimated at $1 million at the Club’s expense. The funding for the lighting and cushion track will be offered to another club, and the ongoing allocation of future race dates will be considered, depending on the condition of the track.”

The decision would have been a ‘no brainer’ had the financial package not called for the installation of a Cushion Track to replace the turf surface. ‘To replace the turf surface’ was the point of contention. When no alternative to having both the turf and Cushion tracks available could be negotiated, the standoff took a seriously negative turn.

It is equally entirely understandable why 110 members voted against the proposal. Their concerns about the quality of the Cushion Track, with regard to it being able to provide a true and safe racing surface, were made quite clear to anyone who would listen.

The objections were roundly dismissed by QRL and any idea of searching for common ground became a non-event. The split in feeling and objectives reached a point of no return, leading to this group calling Monday’s Special General Meeting where they exercised their right to vote on the issue.

Synthetic racing surfaces remain a controversial entity throughout the world and to dismiss criticism of them as being based in ignorance is like the blind leading the blind.

Synthetic surfaces are sure to play a part in racing in future, but the jury, worldwide - including a host of racing professionals who, individually, have more experience of synthetic surfaces than any group in Australia - is still very much out on how big that role should be.

There are few qualms about it being utilised as a training track and pretty much the same applies to it being used as a limited, alternative racing surface when weather conditions dictate that to be a beneficial alternative. It is a work in progress which has yet to be embraced by the greater racing fraternity around the world.

As such, it comes with a risk factor – made all the greater if the track is installed as a club’s main, or only, racing surface - as certain owners and trainers will prefer to run their horses on a traditional turf surface and therefore might not support meetings at the synthetic track.

Thus Toowoomba racing now finds itself in an elevated risk situation where, ironically, the future of those who won at the ballot box lies, to a large degree, in the hands of those who they defeated in the vote.

If their traditional trainers and owners turn their backs on the TTC, being flush with cash and having new facilities might be a position bought at too great a cost. But then, as previously mentioned, events of the last nine months had painted the TTC into a corner, into that no-win situation.

This position of the TTC is made even more critical by the fact that Clifford Park will now be closed for racing until mid-July. (This closure was programmed irrespective of the outcome of the vote).

During this time, owners, trainers have to find somewhere else to race their horses and many jockeys, whose primary income was earned at the Toowoomba track, will have to look elsewhere for an income. How many will return at the end of the day is in question. There will be job losses as well as a negative impact on the local economy.

Throw in the fact that, when racing does return to Clifford Park in July, the TTC will not be able to have too many hiccups if it is to retain its usual Saturday evening slot, with its international broadcasts, as the night racing banner-bearer for racing in Queensland.

The retention of the valued Saturday night racing programme has been promised to the TTC in the deal struck with QRL, so there will be no problem if the racing product produced by the TTC is of a suitable standard.

Previously there was no alternative for night racing, but the Corbould Park track at the Sunshine Coast will be fully primed to take over from Toowoomba, in a worst case scenario, should the racing product produced by the TTC fall below standard, for whatever reason.

Thirty pylons filled with high intensity floodlights are now in place at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club (SCTC) track at Coloundra. The SCTC, who owns Corbould Park in partnership with QRL, will take over the Saturday night timeslot left vacant by the TTC while work is undertaken on the installation of the Cushion Track in Toowoomba. They will set a new standard in the intervening months, one which Toowoomba will have to match.

So while the turbulence of recent months might subside for Toowoomba racing, it will only be replaced by more testing times.

There is always change and change comes for better or worse.

Hopefully in the case of Toowoomba, when the dust has settled and the bloody battlefield has been cleared, there can still be a future for the TTC which will do Queensland racing proud.

Whether there is or not, the only sure bet is that racing at Clifford Park will never be the same again.